Cancerwise

Advance care planning can seem daunting, but it’s a necessary process to make sure that your health care preferences are honored if you become too sick to speak for yourself.   

“I define advance care planning as an ongoing process of communication about your goals, values and wishes in terms of your health care decisions,” says senior social work counselor Melanie Cavazos.

She and gastrointestinal medical oncologist Ryan Huey, M.D., spoke about the importance of advance care planning on the Cancerwise podcast. Here’s what they want patients and caregivers to know.

Why advance care planning is important

When you’re diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness, you can be faced with a lot of uncertainty.

Is this curable?  

What will my treatment look like?

What if I become too sick to make important decisions?

How do I let my family know how to proceed if my condition worsens?

Advance care planning helps you prepare for these situations.

Most of the time, the first thing people think about when they hear ‘advance care planning’ is advance directive documents, such as medical power of attorney, living will and out-of-hospital do not resuscitate documents.

“In my opinion, the conversation about what’s in those documents is just as important – if not more important – than the documents themselves,” says Cavazos. 

Why? Because it gives patients a voice and control during a time when they feel like they lose control in many aspects of their lives.

“There may come a time when you can’t communicate your wishes to your family or care team anymore,” she says. “And if you haven’t had these conversations, your doctors and loved ones have to guess what you want in certain scenarios.”

Advance care planning takes out the guesswork, so your preferences are known and can be implemented.